Merry Christmas
by Links6
Summary: Izaya has a nightmare on Christmas Eve, luckily Shizuo is there to help ... ShiZaya


Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara or any of its characters or themes. This is FAN fiction. Enjoy!.

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 _ **Merry Christmas**_

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There's a rule that the Heiwajima's live by. ' _If you ignore something, it'll go away'._ They live by it. Swear by it. And it works, most of the time.

Shizuo practically breathed this little motto every day of his life. Between 'ignore it' and 'it'll go away', a handy-dandy street sign or vending machine is usually quicker and much more efficient –in his opinion at least.

Unfortunately it didn't always pan out the way he'd want.

And that's how he's stuck on the floor, flea's on the couch and they're supposed to be sleeping but it's just not happening. At least, not for him.

He sighs, which turns into another yawn. It was his own fault, after all. He must've guessed Shinra's invitation for a Christmas Eve all-nighter would end up something like this.

The Christmas tree in the corner wasn't even decorated properly. Yes, there were little baubles and tinsel, but it was _supposed_ to be decorated thoughtfully, wasn't it? It was supposed to _look perfect_. At least, that's what Shizuo always thought about Christmas. Especially the lights. Not just haphazardly draped over the fern –Shinra didn't even bother getting the right _tree-_ and not even arranged carefully that the whole _–fern-_ tree was covered.

That was just one of the long list Shizuo was currently writing up in his brain.

It was too cold. It was dark. The flea took the couch. It was windy outside. It was drizzling. He was out of cigarettes. The one lightbulb of the fairy lights only flickered. His phone battery died. He left his charger at home. Shinra's eggnog sucked. And the flea's crying.

He pauses.

He perks his ears to listen closely. _It couldn't be._

 _A sniffle, a small whine._

Unfortunately Shizuo's also a brother. And older brother. And older brothers make exceptions to the 'if you ignore something, it'll go away' rules. Because, that's just what they do. It doesn't matter _whom_ the exception is made for.

"What's wrong with you, flea?" Shizuo whispers, albeit that a growl inevitably follows. Of course, _caring_ didn't mean he'd have to be _happy_ about it.

Nothing.

He sits up and squints in the darkness at the form next to him. He can only barely make out the back of Izaya's head.

 _Another sniffle. A small choked cry._

Shizuo sits up completely this time and wearily puts his hand on Izaya's shoulder, "Hey, you okay?"

No reply.

 _He must be dreaming._

A little shake and Shizuo repeats himself a little more clearly, "Flea, you're dreaming. Wake up."

 _Another sob._

"Wake up, Izaya," Shizuo repeats again, shaking the young man's shoulder once more.

"W-wha-?" a bleary and confused Izaya finally mumbles, grabbing his throat a moment later.

"You were crying in your sleep," Shizuo says and gets up to get a bottle of water for the guy. Shizuo isn't an asshole, after all.

"No- Don't go!" an urgent whisper suddenly erupts from the Information Broker. His eyes were wide and still completely swollen and pink from all the crying.

"I'm getting you water…" Shizuo answers, his newfound uncomfortable ' _caregiver'_ -role not exactly bringing the warm-and-fuzzies to him, "Just… try not to choke."

With that, Izaya finally sits up. He grabs his jacket from the top of the couch's cushions and quickly wraps it around himself.

"Here," Shizuo says, announcing himself before he stops in front of his enemy. He has a bottle of water and a mug in hand. He hands over the water first. He can't stifle the yawn though, being up this late was never his forte.

" _I-I'm fine…"_ Izaya answers stiffly, not meeting Shizuo's gaze with his usual cocky glare. He just sat there looking tired, drained and gloomy.

"Well, you might as well try this," Shizuo says and hands over the mug instead, dropping the water bottle unto the table. "And if you don't take this, I'll force it down your damn throat for waking me up."

Which wasn't true, the latter statement. But, the hell if he'd let the flea know that.

"Shinra's.." Izaya eyes the mug cautiously, a clear look of distaste on his face.

"He can't make eggnog, this is my own blend," Shizuo says and smiles half-heartedly. "Try it, you'll feel better."

The young man in front of Shizuo simply nods.

He takes the first sip, only to start gulping it down.

"You shouldn't-" Shizuo starts to protest only to realize it was too late to stop him, "Carry on."

Once he was finished, Izaya blinked a few times and gave a surprised cough, "That had more kick than expected."

"I tried to warn you," Shizuo says and takes the mug from him, "One more?"

"Please."

Internally, the blonde bartender-turned-debt-collector was trying not to freak out. Since when did that bastard _ever_ use polite wording? Then again, Shizuo was pretty tired himself, so he just chalked it up to hallucinations due to lack of sleep.

So, carrying back the next mug-full, a pre-emptive warning that it _was_ made by Shizuo, bartender-extraordinaire, was quickly thrown to the wind as the mug was gulped down once more with fervour.

"Do I even _want_ to know what you dreamt about?" Shizuo says as he frowns when Izaya asks for another mug of the good stuff.

"Nothing," the answer comes, but his red face and fresh tears made it harder to believe.

"Okay," Shizuo says and takes it as his que. After a good stretch, he lies back down on the floor and yawns a "Goodnight" to the other man.

And, with that, he closes his eyes, tunes out other noises and starts praying that he'll fall asleep before this night could get any worse.

The weight that suddenly drops to his bed shouldn't be a surprise, considering how the rest of the evening had gone down. This time his yawn mutates into an annoyed sigh.

"The hell are you doing?" Shizuo snaps, not even bothering to turn around.

"Sorry, Shizu-chan," Izaya's voice sounds lower than it normally does, and it does strained as well from all the crying, " _Sorry_."

"Quit being sorry and _get off_ ," Shizuo growls and forces his eyes to stay closed and his demeanor to stay calm.

"I know you hate me," Izaya says and softly puts his hand on Shizuo's shoulder, "But… can I… _just for tonight?_ "

"WHAT?" Shizuo snaps as loudly as he dares whilst Celty and Shinra were still sleeping in the next room.

"Just for tonight," Izaya whispers, his face reddening further with each word, Can I sleep here… with you?

At a certain point in your time dealing with other person, you get to the point where it's just kind of like, _'What the hell, do what you want'_ , which is pretty damn close to _'If you ignore it long enough, it'll go away_ '… or at least, that's what Shizuo's reasoning to his next answer was.

"Whatever… just go back to sleep…"

The next morning came around earlier than Shizuo had expected and woke up the sound of birds chirping, a bright blue sky and an envelope next to his side of the bed. The flea was gone.

It was a beautiful morning indeed.

Shizuo picks up the envelope, scanning it. _Merry Christmas, Shizuo._

 _That was definitely Izaya's handwriting._

A small smile forms on Shizuo's handsome features. He didn't expect Izaya to be grateful or anything for the previous night. He didn't expect anything at all. Receiving a card was nice. It was pretty sweet, actually. Especially from a guy like _that._

So, Shizuo opens up the envelope, a little curious to see that's inside and what kind of message it'll have. He was expecting a little card with a kitten with a cute elf hat on saying ' _Merry Christmas, thanks for everything - Izaya'._

In the real world however, he opened it up and a laminated photo of him asleep and Izaya kissing him was inside. The back of the photo had a post-it attached to it that read: _That's the second time, Shizu-Chan! – Love, Izaya_ '

 _PS: Merry Christmas, sucker._

That bastard.

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 ** _Thanks for reading! Please drop me a pm or review if you liked it!_**


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